Symbian to use Microsoft's email technology

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Symbian, maker of the top operating system for "smart" mobile
phones, is licensing email technology from Microsoft, an unexpected
deal with a rival that may bolster Microsoft's bid to extend its
dominance in computer software to mobile devices.

The agreement will enable users of Symbian-based phones to
automatically send and receive email from accounts running on
Microsoft's Exchange Server, a network platform popularly used by
corporations to manage Microsoft's Outlook email and calendar
applications.

Neither company revealed the terms of the licensing
agreement.

Symbian, a joint venture formed by some of the world's best
known phone makers, has emerged as the best-selling platform for
advanced mobile phones designed to double as both handheld
computers and mobile entertainment centers.

However, most of that success has come in European markets where
lead investor Nokia is most influential. In North America and other
markets, Symbian has gained only modest traction as compared with
rival wireless platforms such as Palm and Windows Mobile from
Microsoft.

Overall, the smart phone market remains quite small, leaving
plenty of room for rivals to vie for customers as the devices grow
more popular. According to the research firm IDC, converged mobile
devices accounted for only a few percent of the more than 600
million phones sold in 2004, but that number is expected to grow
sharply this year.

Marit Doving, executive vice president of marketing at Symbian,
said the deal would allow the British company "to offer the
broadest possible choice of email and personal information
management solutions."

Dave Thompson, corporate vice president of the Exchange Server
Product Group at Microsoft, said the accord gave both companies the
opportunity to expand the number of customers who could access
their email and other data from wireless services as demand for
such services grows rapidly.